Treating chamber



May 2,v 1933-y J. BQYNTONL rrr` Al. '1,905,735

TREAT I NG CHAMBER Filed Oct. 17, 1929 l, InUe-r'r'a @arthur Jlo I Patented Mey 2, n y

marine enanas Anualmente omper'iafisaafsennlm. f i

vThepresent inventionrelates generally `treating chambers,- suchl-as furnaces, duets,

and-the like, and has particular referenceto that .classof' apparatus vin whichsolid ma'i k lterial in the form'ofgpowder or small arti'- [cles or lumps ispa'ssed continuously an proy n A15 izo.,

yso

' f In' theaccompanying drawing.` a v I Fig.4 1 is a plan view. .of a furnaceembdy-y ving the` invention, part being :broken 'away Ito the travel andthe exposure. b *.The inventionv aims toprovide" treating apparatus :which furnishes eilicient;contact between gas and solid."I g One object of 'the-invention is the progressive, stepby4step= advance'` of the material advancing and dumping the 'same through agaseous medium. 1

Anotherob'eict of.r he invention-is to control the dumping' andthe advance bytheconstruction and operation ofthe apparatus.`

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in theartffrom 'the fol a tion ofone embodiment of the invention r as it 'may yeinplyed in a reducing roast of 'eer- V tainminera" l'slfV a show the rotor constructio l v s Fig. 2 is a Side elevati@ pfzthefumaewih I d apartshowninsection.

v Fig. 4 is a side view'ofthe scoop of Fig.3.

, Fig. 5 is agface view ofanother formA ofv Y. Fig, 6i's a side 4view oi ther scoop of Fig. 5. j Althoughfwe do Anot `consider the invention .to be'flimite'dftoz furnacing treatments, the

l apparatus will hereinafter be'referred to 'asa kfurnace, and itis to be understood that such reference material, vof course', being, suitably chosen for` the character of treatment." i Thev disclosed Yembodiment of the invention l'has 'a waste'gas voutlet '15`at the apex of al pyramidalend V16.

owingdescrip-y n is lmerely for convenience: in der scription. f i. f 11n the drawing there is shown an elongated chamber having fa plurality of Ihorizontal .axlesset thereincarrying 'buckets or scoops `r`which are compactlyf'arranged for piekin up'solid material fromthe `furnace floor `for dumping it in an advanced position along .the floor, in the path of otherfscoops.

Afeed mechanismis located at oneend yand a discharge mechanismv at the vother-lend.` f Hot ases are yintroduced.counter-current to the ow of solidbeing admittedV both at theex- ;tremeend andk at points along the len ofA the furnace,as in case controlled heatlng is 'desiredf-4 we t va yTheurnace proper is designated 10 and comprisesk afrectangular' vchamberwith top f 11,-floor L12, land* side walls '13Vand"14,-`fthe 76 On theV floor 1' at the base of; lthe i pyramid, `16 Y there is feeding means for the'solid material "75 xtonfbeftreated. Ther feedingy means 'in the present instance comprises/awormsc'rew con-y veyer 17 which carries solid into the-furnace, Y the pyramidal: end-forcin`gitforward in the f furnace. The conveyer is fed from any suitable :source of material such as thev conduit 18 extending verticallyy upwardlyfalon'gside :the furnace.- A motordrive 19 is yindicated for Vo eratin theconve er, and'this'xnay be spec -contro ledto regu ate the feed into the furnacej'w The opposite end of the''tfurnacejhas a trap outlet 20 .in the vfloor -into which the material falls after treatment. f Inithe bottom of this` outlet thereisaworrn conveyerj21 which removes the solidfromthe furnace. f The dis'- charge end also has vafcombustion chamberl y22 se arated frornthe.treatinv chamber by ka per oratedfwall23,throughw ich hot gases "are distributed over the areaof thetreatin chamber. `Gras and airmay be used as vfue .air being supplied vbyline Y24and gas by line 25 toa suitable burner 26. f `The gas line .y has a branch conduit `27v running the furnaceV `with suitably yspace alon 'de `tap gnlies isty y 28 for burners 29 in the side wall of the furnace, for introducing gas. Such gas may be used for its reactive properties, or for producing heat, or for both, making it possible to control temperature along the length of the furnace where that control is desired. Although these lines 'are referred to as gas lines, because of this description of a furnace, itis to be understoodthat other reagents may be introduced ina similar manner.

Alongside the wall 13 of the furnace there is a rotary shaft 30 with driving mechanism 31. A plurality of horizontal axles or rotors 32 are spaced in parallel relationship along the length of the furnace, each rotor having a bevelled gear connection 33 with the shaft 30. The rotor axles are suitably packed at 34 in the chamber walls, and bear at 35 outside the chamber by suitable constructions. The rotors are preferably geared for rotation at thesame speed and in the same direction, and in construction are generally similar.

Each rotor is provided with means to pick up solid from the chamber floor, to raise the solid as the rotor revolves, and to carry it forward inthe furnace, while dumping it in an advanced position. Such pick-up means is here represented vas scoops or bucketson arms projecting ,from the rotor axles, and the point of dumping is in part controlledV by the character of the scoop construction. Each rotor 32 has in the present instance `foursets of arms 36, there being four arms in a set. Alternaterotors'are identical `in construction and adjacent rotors have their sets of arms in staggered and overlapped relation, the arms of one set on one rotor moving closely alongside or between arms of an adjacent rotor. Each arm carries a scoop or bucket 37 which extends close to the axle of an adjacent rotor. The arms -36 are preferably bifurcated providing an opening 38 (Fig. .3). through which the material is dumped from the scoop. i

The bucket has two forms, onebeinga slight modification of the other. In Figs. 5 and 6 a simple dumping bucket is shown. In general it has a scoop form ywith bottom 40, end wall 41 and side walls 42 and 43 which are triangular in shape. The bottom of the scoop is an extension of the arm 36,'and material slides from the scoop bottomthrough the opening 38 asthc arm is raised. Such a bucket dumps completely prior to reaching a vertical position, and its full load is only slightlyadvanced by one rotor. v,

In Figs. 3 and 4 a modified bucket is shown in which a double-dumping action is effected. By placing 'a plate44 across the inner end of-the bucket a radially extending pocket 45 is formed opening outwardly. A part of the bucket contents is spilled prior to reaching a vertical position, and a part is held in the pocket until after the arm paes over center and is well on the downward stroke. This type of bucket is more effective in spreading the contents in a thinner stream,

.and in advancing it further by one rotor.

In operation, solid material is fed into the chamber 10 by conveyer 17 and is forced along the floor into the pathv of the first rotor 32. The scoops pick up the material and raise it, advance it and spill it through the gas that is present in the chamber. The maferial falls on the floor and piles up until it comes into the path of the scoops of the next rotor, by Whic the accumulating material is vpicked up and again advanced in the same manner until it has traversed the length of the furnace and reaches the outlet 20. By this method the material is fed slowly, progressively .and uniformly through the furnace with high degree of exposure to the gas.

The furnace floor 12, being fiat, will accumu-` late some material which will remain more or less permanently in the furnace, but the floor may be modified to lessen the accumulation if this is desired or if the accumulation is dentrimental, without inany way departing from this invention.v

In practice, the resent invention, embodied in a furnace li e-that above described, may be used for treating minerals, such as v iron-manganese ores, which can be heated in the'presence ofincompletely burned fuel to reduce the oxides to lower and more useful forms, such as manganous oxide, and magnetic iron oxide. vIn such use of the furnace heat over the entire length may be required, and control of the temperature may be effected by admittin gas at the side burners, with nov air or wit insufficient air to complete oombustion. The major portion of the Y gas and the heat may be derived from the combustion chamber 23, and the auxiliary side burners may be used only to effect a desired control. y

The progress of the material through the furnace may be controlled in part by the rate of feeding into the furnace, in part by the bucketconstruction, and in part by the speed of operating the rotors, and it is to be understood that these may be readily balanced by those skilled in the art to meet the instant demands.

The resent linvention has'the advantage that a ighly efficient contact between gas and'solid is effected, that the path through the furnace is a vertical zig-zag path, that the power requirements are low, and that control of the progress is easily effected, as

well as control of the conditions that be maintained within the chamber.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not to be considered as limited to and by the .description of the apparatus are to Vshown in the drawing, `and that the various features of the apparatus may be otherwise embodied and modified within the scope lof ing from each axle and carrying said scoops, said supporting means belng narrow 1n width K f compared to the width of a scoop whereby to provide an unobstructed` path for spilling contents from a scoop, means tofeed solid material intothe chamber vinto th`path of scoops on a rotor, means to turn therotors in a direction to pick up and to spill said material from one rotor into-the path of scoops of another rotor, whereby toadvance the material through the chamber, and means to remove solid materialvwhich has` been advanced through thechamber.

2;v Apparatus `for ktreating `solid materialy comprising in combination means forming an `elongated chamber, a' plurality of parallel horizontal rotors in said chamber extending transversely thereof Land alined lengthwise of the chamber,'narrow arms on each rotor,

scoops wider than said arms and carried by the ends of sald arms, the arms and scoops of adjacent rotors being intermeshed so that in yrotation of the rotors the scoops and arms freely `pass each other, means to feed solid material into the path of scoops on one rotor, means to turn the rotors in a direction to pick` up and to spill said material from one rotor into the path of scoops of another rotor,`

whereby to advance the material through Vthe chamber,and means to remove solid material which has been advanced through the chamber.

3. Apparatus for treating Solid material comprising 1n combmatlon means yformmg an peripherally arranged scoops on each rotor, the sets of scoops on adjacent rotors being relatively staggered and overlappedymeans to feed material into the chamber into the path of scoopson a rotor, means to turn the rotors iny a direction to pick u means to remove solid material which has beenadvanced'through the chamber.

5. In apparatllsfof theclass described a horizontal rotor, a plurality of arms on the rotor, a scoop oneach armvadapted topick` l ,80'

vup solidmaterial in thefpath of the revolving scoop, means forming in said scoop a radially directed pocket opening outwardly,

whereby in vertical-'raised position and in:

positions beyond center material in the scoop is held against spilling.

6. vIn apparatus oty the class described a horizontal rotor, a plurality of scoops on said rotor arranged peripherally, means forming in a scoop a radially directed ocket opening outwardly, whereby inivertic'a position and. impositions beyond center, material in the scoop is held against spilling.

vIn apparatusof the class described two` adjacent parallel horizontal rotor axles,` .spaced .series of scoops carried by each of said axles in extended position and arranged peripherally, the two series on said axles being staggered and intertting, the paths of the scoops on each rotor overlapping the adjacent paths of scoops onthe other rotor and extending-close to the axle of the other rotor,

and means to drive the two rotors in the same dlrection.

In witness whereof, we'hereunto subscribe our names this 30th day of September 1929.

ARTHUR, J. BOYNTON.l`

SELWYN E P. KINNEY.

elongated chamber, a plurality of parallel horizontal rotors insaid chamber extending transversely thereof and alined lengthwise of the chamber. a plurality of sets of arms on eachk rotor, the sets of arms on adjacentrotors being relatively `staggered and overlapped, scoops on the arms, means to feed solid material into the chamberinto the path kof scoops on a rotor, means to `turn the rotors in a direction'to pick up and to spill said f material from one rotor into thepath of p scoops of another rotor, whereby to advance l the material through said chamber, and means to removesolid material which has been advanced through the chamber.

4. Apparatus for treating solid ymaterial i comprising in combination means forming an elongated chamber, a plurality of parallelv horizontal rotors in said chamber extend- `ing transversely thereof and alined lengthwise of the chamber, a plurality of setsof and tot spill said material from one rotor into the rpathy of scoops of another rotor, whereby to ad- Vance the material through the chamber, and 

